Ruling the Galaxy Together
by TheLadyInBlackAndPink
Summary: An alternate ending to "The Last Jedi." Rey's journey into the dark side, led by Kylo Ren. (TROS Spoilers!) Will Rey's Sith vision in TROS become reality? What would the galaxy look like with such a powerful dyad in the Force ruling the First Order? Is Palpatine still pulling the strings behind all of this? Where does Rey's and Ben's betrayal leave Leia and the Resistance? Dark!rey
1. Submission

Rey took his hand. Tears fell from her eyes. Her hand trembled wildly. Ben held onto it tightly, reassuring her with his confidence. His eyes went wide, surprised, before he gave her a slight smile of satisfaction. Kylo Ren had got everything he wanted today; a promotion to Supreme Leader and Rey, his powerful equal in the Force, by his side.

Rey rushed forward, plunging herself into his solid chest covered in all black knight regalia. She wanted to feel his warmth, strength, and confirmation that she was not alone anymore. He offered it generously. He locked his muscular arms around her, holding her steady as she sobbed. His chin rested on her head.

Rey felt guilty, unsure of her choice, fear for their future, happiness to be with Ben and relieved at not feeling so alone anymore. Every bone in her body revolted against her acceptance of his hand. She had followed Ben into the same conflict which ravaged his soul.

"Together, we'll bring order to the galaxy." His words were solid, sure, full of faith in their righteousness. Every word dripped with concrete fanaticism. He possessed the same total conviction of his grandfather before him.

Rey cried more into his chest, breaking more. Pain surged through her at his words, at her choice. The Light in her resisting her transformation to the dark. "It hurts." She confessed, as if seeking to be forgiven for the sin of her conscience.

Ben embraced her tighter, offering support. "I know."

Rey was surprised at his understanding, her eyes widened against the fabric of his uniform.

Kylo Ren's next words were dark. "There's a way we can fix that - make you sure of your choice."

Rey felt electrifying fear shoot through her at his tone and the content of his words. They reminded her so much of her first encounter with him in his interrogation room. Rey put the pieces together, having learned enough about the First Order since then.

"Indoctrination?"

"Mhm." From above, Kylo Ren's voice confirmed she had guessed his thoughts correctly.

After pulling apart, Rey looked up at Ben. _It feels ill-fitting to call the creature in front of me Ben, when he's so clearly Kylo Ren in this moment. _

Kylo Ren sensed her fear. "Don't be afraid. I'll be kinder than during the interrogation. You'll be okay." He reassured her, as if that made everything alright.

Rey eyed him with uncertainty. She mets his fanaticism with skepticism.

"Indoctrination is the first step in anyone's rise in the First Order -commanders, generals, _myself_." Kylo Ren explained to persuade her.

Rey's eyes widened, imagining what such a process must have been like under Snoke's guidance.

"It helps _so much _to feel assured of your transition to the dark side, of your place here. It inspires passionate dedication."

Rey could feel the disturbing conviction of his words, the strong belief at their core, and more tears travelled down her face. She wanted so badly to be free of this pain. It's that urge, which leads her down a dark path.

She nodded. With that, her fate was sealed.

Ben looked at her and nodded in return. His expression was a calm, assured one, such as a doctor wears when prescribing a treatment.

Rey swallowed her doubts.

…..

Rey found herself in the interrogation room again, strapped into the same chair.

"Just so you don't accidentally hurt yourself or me." Kylo Ren offered.

Rey shot a look up at him.

"Ready?"

His demeanor is different this time around. He is more compassionate from the start. When she was here as a prisoner, he hadn't even bothered asking such a question to prepare her.

Rey seriously doubted she needed to answer, that her response would make a difference, but she nodded anyways.

Kylo Ren closed his eyes in focus, mediating on the power of the dark side of the Force, where a great deal of many evil things resided. _Pain, suffering, greed, jealousy, lust for power, passion, selfish pride, fear, anger, hate. _Kylo Ren reached out to those emotions.

Rey could feel his dark Force energy creeping up around her mind once more. Her first instinct was to resist again. She gritted her teeth and tried to force the energy away, turning her head.

"Don't resist me, Rey. It'll be easier on you. Resist, and it only hurts more." Kylo Ren was reminded of his own indoctrination into the dark side. Snoke had been far less gentle with his mind, offering harsher, much more cruel guidance.

Rey tried to will her defenses down. She tried to calm herself and ease her mental blocks away.

Soon, Kylo Ren found the access he'd been craving. A small smile drew across his face. "That's it. Work with me and it'll all be over soon."

Kylo's words were supposed to be reassuring but they made Rey shiver. Slowly, Kylo Ren found all the pieces of Light littered throughout her mind like the garbage it was. He began snuffing them out one by one, like candles. Memories of love, safety, calm, patience, selflessness, compassion, Jedi wisdom faded away.

As their warmth left, Ben's presence in her mind felt icy cold. Rey shivered more.

"Embrace it, Rey." Kylo Ren's calm instruction came to her ears in a teaching tone.

Rey didn't fight it and let the cold completely consume her body, to the point where she thought she might actually freeze to death.

Sensing her total surrender to the dark, Ben eased up. He gently let her come back down to the present moment. He gracefully left her mind.

Rey's eyes opened and she saw Kylo Ren standing closer to her. "That's enough for one session. You did great, Rey."

Rey winced. "I have a headache."

He stroked her hair, soothing her pain, and nodded. "That's normal."

With the Force, he undid all of her restraints with one gesture of his hand and she stood up.

"Come with me." He said as he led her out of the room with a gesture of his hand, his cape flowing behind him, as he turned and led the way to Rey's journey into the First Order.


	2. Battling for Power

Leia looked up from her sitting position on Crait. She felt it, through the Force. She felt a disturbance. She felt Rey's Light energy turning Dark. It was the same feeling she'd felt when Ben had made the decision to turn and destroyed Luke's temple, wiping out most of his students.

Leia's eyes were far off, as she clutched her heart. Poe looked over and noticed. "What is it, General?"

Leia spoke no answer. The words wouldn't come from her mouth. She couldn't bear to tell Poe Rey's choice, not right now.

Poe furrowed his brows in consideration of her silence.

…

Rey woke from her nap when they landed, hovering in the air over Crait. She awoke with a startle. She sensed something dark was brewing. She needed to find Ben. She got up as fast as she could, leaving Supreme Leader Kylo Ren's quarters.

He met her at the door. She just barely stopped herself from running into his chest. Her eyes looked up wide at him.

"It's time to finish this war." His icy eyes matched his dark tone.

Rey knew in that moment what he meant. He intended to wipe out the Resistance; the last real threat to his power. Rey boldly reached out and grabbed Supreme Leader Kylo Ren's forearm. "Ben, please, don't do this." Rey begged. Despite Rey's earlier welcome to the dark side, she still felt compassion for her friends - for Leia.

Kylo Ren sensed her attachment. "No! You're still holding on! Let go!" He ordered fiercely, spitting the words with visceral venom.

The weight of the consequences for Rey's decision fell on her shoulders. She wanted to protect Leia and her friends, but the pull to the Dark Side was also stronger than it had ever been before, even when she first reached out to the Force on Ahch-To and the abyss whispered to her. A part of her felt as if she belonged to the Darkness, as if she had been born in it and it called her back home. The thought made her shiver in fear about how natural and potent the Dark Side felt to her.

She looked back up at Ben and he saw the darkness reflecting in her eyes. The dark swirled in them like the pool of water in the abyss. He felt the darkened energy of her Force around her. He reached up and put both gloved hands around her shoulders.

"Give in, Rey. The Dark Side of the Force calls to you; it always has. Give up this Resistance." His sparkling dark eyes searched hers. He was drawing the darkness out of her. Close to him, she felt passion which pulled her towards the Dark Side.

She knew he meant more than give up her personal resistance to the Dark Side, but to give up the Resistance. Rey's good heart swam through the darkness and pulled at her vocal chords. "But your mother, Leia?" She tried.

This time it was Rey's turn to see the shift in Ben's eyes. Ben Solo shown through the dark icy pools. His love for his mother came shining through like island suns. Ben felt the same pull towards Leia that he had felt when he took his thumb off the trigger in his fighter craft.

Kylo Ren didn't have an answer and pulled away, focusing on his desire for power and stomping towards battle. Rey ran behind him, desperate to keep the spark of light alive in Kylo Ren in order to keep Leia and her friends alive, all while trying to figure out her own strong pull to the Dark Side.

Rey followed Kylo Ren up to the bridge of his ship. Hux's eyes widened as he saw the filthy scavenger and he looked up in surprise at his Supreme Leader. While Rey slept out of sight in his quarters, Kylo Ren had told Hux Rey had killed Snoke.

Kylo Ren shot an icy, lethal glare at Hux, challenging his general to question him in front of his crew. "What is the meaning of this?" Hux started, stepping forward, not humble enough to think better of it before challenging new Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.

Kylo's hand immediately shot out and Hux clutched his throat, struggling to breathe. "We'll have a meeting later." This was all he offered as he eased the force grip on Hux's throat before throwing him into the wall. Kylo Ren made it clear that any defiance wouldn't stand - literally.

Hux stood back up and glared at Rey, but kept all further objections to himself. Rey gasped as she watched the scene in front of her, wondering if the power dynamics were always a struggle between the two men. Soon Rey saw Resistance pilots were coming towards the First Order fleet, shooting straight at their huge canon, with tie fighters coming to shoot them down. One ship, Finn, Rey could tell as he raced closer was heading straight towards the center of the canon. _Finn, what are you doing?!_

Rey instinctively stepped forward and Kylo Ren sensed her intention before her movement happened. He shot out an arm and held her back. He shot her a similar glare as he had Hux earlier, but with far more compassion. Rey held his gaze, deciding what to do, knowing that any outright challenge now would only worsen matters.

She didn't have to worry for long. Before Finn could complete his sucicide mission, another ship suddenly knocked him out of the way. Rey sighed a breath of relief, which was cut short as Luke Skywalker suddenly appeared. Instantly, Rey had to take a step back. She could feel the intense rage rolling off Kylo Ren in that moment. It was especially strong through their Force bond. She tried to send calming energy his way, but he blocked all of it out; holding on to his hatred.

"I want _**every**_ gun we have to fire on that man."

Rey looked at Kylo with concerned eyes. She looked back at Luke, who seemed confident. Fear struck through her but she trusted that an experienced Jedi such as Skywalker didn't take the risk of coming back now to face Ben and stepping into the great wide open of battle without a plan.

Rey stepped forward in amazement and watched in horrified awe as every single gun the First Order fleet possessed opened fire - full force - towards Luke. His image was quickly buried in red dust as the shots assaulted their target area.

Next to her, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren became increasingly consumed with rage and pure _**hatred. **_Rey's eyes widened at his venom as he barked the orders for "More!" Rey had never seen a single person so swept up in rage and hate, taken by the Dark Side. As red smoke consumed Skywalker, a red cloud of rage consumed Ben.

Her and Hux shared uneasy glances of mutual disapproval and concern. Rey tried to reach for Kylo Ren's arm. He quickly pulled himself away, just managing to will himself to contain his anger. Hux gathered his sense of authority, along with his courage, and stepped forward to end another Kylo Ren's tantrum, which was costing too much of their ammo on one man.

"That's **enough!**" General Hux barked to his fleet. "Well... do you think you got him?" He sassed Kylo Ren, as his Supreme Leader slumped back into his chair, exhausted and breathing heavy from the exertion.

"Now, we can finish this -" Hux paused in awe as the dust faded away and Luke Skywalker was still standing, appearing untouched.

Rey gasped, her eyes wide in disbelief and joy. She stepped forward to get a clearer picture, relieved to see Luke still standing unharmed. Kylo Ren got up and took a closer look himself, greatly disappointed all of his military attempts had failed. Luke merely brushed off his shoulder smugly, challenging Ben.

"Lower me down to him."

Hux got up to object again and Rey winced in advance, even she could see what was coming. Kylo Ren didn't hesitate to force throw him into the wall of the ship again and Hux let out a shout at he collided back into it. It was Rey's glimpse of politics inside the First Order.

"Yes, sir." A captain replied without hesitation.

"Ben, you don't have to do it." Rey pleaded, her eyes meeting his.

"Stay here," was all Kylo Ren commanded before turning to face Skywalker.

Rey sat in his seat, uneasy as the events took place. She felt it though, even then after seeing brutality in the First Order. Even as her friends were in dire trouble, she felt the undeniable pull in her blood to the Dark Side of the Force. She bit her nails nervously, feeling the guilt of not feeling out of place here in Ben's seat. Hux looked down at her disapprovingly but decided he'd been force choked and thrown around with magic enough for one day's work. He folded his hands and stood at attention, curiously watching his Supreme Leader face off against the last Jedi.

Rey also watched their fight with a different sense of interest. She didn't know which one to root for, hoping they both came out of it alive. Luke easily dodged Ben's unstable, enraged lightsaber swings.

_Ben, don't do this to yourself. _

Meanwhile inside the old base, the Finn and Poe noticed the arctic crystal foxes were finding a way out and followed them, which led them to a dead end in the form of a stone wall. Resistance members began to panic and despair, but Leia calmly focused.

One hand firmly grasping her cane, she held the other out and managed to lift the rocks away. Finn and Poe looked at their leader in delight and relief. Leia smiled. "I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." With that, they all headed out. Chewy arrived on the Falcon and the Resistance quickly boarded his ship. Poe helped Chewy pilot it. Leia reminisced to herself about how good it felt to be back on the familiar ship. Surrounded by so much familiarity, she couldn't help but be reminded of what she lost. _Han. Ben. and now __**Rey. **_Leia calmly meditated with hands in her lap, wishing for the Force to guide them both back home.

Meanwhile the fight on the ground between Luke and Kylo came to an end, finally. Rey watched as Kylo Ren kept striking out when attacking. Her heart both glad for Luke and torn for Ben. She stepped even closer to the window in awe as Ben's blade struck through Luke as he'd run towards him full speed, but Luke remained unharmed. The captain looked over at Rey, inquisitive at her presence on the ship seemingly approved by their Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.

_Luke! You're a genius! _

Rey smiled as it became clear that Luke hadn't really come in person at all. He had never left the island. He was projecting himself here. Rey's smile dropped as she saw complete rage come over Ben at having been tricked. Rey also worried because she knew being tricked during his first battle as Supreme Leader didn't look well upon his succession. Rey discreetly stole a glance back at Hux, still firmly rooted to his spot in his military stance. She wore a poker face of no emotion. She could see the disapproval and disdain towards Kylo Ren's failure, which Hux hadn't bothered to hide. They shared an extremely tense glare, which made the crew sweat, before Hux ordered his crew to fire the canon and blast through the Resistance base, which is did.

The sheer power of it took Rey back. The force of it shook the whole planet. The door completely busted open. Hux organized his stormtroopers and they prepared to march in. Rey was intent on catching up to Ben.

"Lower me down, please." She asked of the captain, a stark difference from Kylo Ren's barking demand.

The captain blinked before softly nodding and doing so. He hadn't heard Kylo Ren ordering Rey to stay behind. She took a deep breath, preparing to face him. As soon as she stepped onto Crait's crystalized mineral ground, she took off running. She crossed the distance to Kylo Ren with haste.

Breathing heavy, she stopped a few inches from him. He looked her over in disapproval. "I told you to stay inside my ship." His voice was dark.

"You also told me we would rule together, which means I get a say in what happens." Rey stood up for herself firmly, making it clear that she was not subordinate to him and wouldn't spend her time in the Dark Side bowing to his every order like the rest of his crew. Her eyes held the spunk, which Snoke had pointed out.

Kylo Ren looked at her, realizing how much of an adjustment being in ultimate power together would be. He shook his head, which surprised Rey. "You're right, Supreme Leader Rey." He almost smirked.

Rey gulped at hearing the title, but simultaneously an electrifying chill ran through her body. She liked the feeling of power. It terrified her.

"Enjoying power is nothing to fear, Rey." Ben reassured, sensing her unease.

Rey looked at him, unsure. She didn't have to search for a response, due to Hux approaching with his military force. Kylo Ren saw and led the way, holding out his hand for Rey to take, so that they could walk side by side together. They were leading the First Order forces together.

Rey squeezed onto his gloved hand tighter, afraid of how good it felt to lead by his side. She was afraid of what this meant about her, of what this meant for Leia and the Resistance, of what this meant for her desire to pull Ben back to the light.

_How can I draw Ben back to the light, if I'm so drawn to the dark? _

She gulped again, walking in step with Ben. She looked over at him. Powerful. Strong. Assured. He didn't show any weakness, even having failed.

_No, Kylo Ren. He's completely Kylo Ren right now. _

They marched through the Resistance base, not finding much of value. Rey concealed her great inner joy at knowing all her friends had somehow escaped. She sensed Kylo Ren didn't share her joy… completely. He couldn't hide his true feelings from Rey. Through their force bond, she felt just a hint of his own relief - relief at his mother getting away safely. Rey looked over thoughtfully at Ben but didn't speak her thoughts.

Stormtroopers walked through, clearing the base. Again, Rey could feel Hux's deeply disapproving stare full of disdain pointed towards Ben. She didn't have to turn to know it was there. It pierced through her back. She looked over at Ben. He seemed focused. He appeared unbothered if he'd felt the look.

Rey saw him kneel down and pick up something, which must have caught his interest. She walked over and bent down next to him, peering over at what was in his hand.

_Han Solo's dice. _

The momento chilled Rey. It brought back painful memories of watching him die at Kylo Ren's lightsaber. She held back tears for as long as she could before one trickled down her cheek. She looked at Ben who seemed calmer. He didn't wear his emotions as often as she did.

Rey watched in awe as the dice disappeared. Ben closed his hand, where the dice had been.

"They're all gone. Everyone's evacuated. We've lost." Hux's words pierced through the air, aimed at Kylo Ren.

Instantly, Kylo Ren shot out his hand. The force grip on Hux's throat was far tighter this time. He stepped forward towards the man, menacingly. "You stand to lose more than today's battle, if you persist, _**general.**_" Supreme Leader Kylo Ren sneered, before dropping Hux so that he was kneeling before him.

Hux looked up, gasping for air even though the crushing grip had lifted. He shook his head, where words failed him, remaining on his knees until air came back to him.


End file.
